


Coffee and Commitment Issues

by SneakyHufflepuff



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen, Remix
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-28
Updated: 2014-06-28
Packaged: 2018-02-06 12:45:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1858545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SneakyHufflepuff/pseuds/SneakyHufflepuff
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For the be_compromised Remix. It won't make sense unless you've read the original fic, Adjectives Assemble.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Coffee and Commitment Issues

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Adjectives Assemble](https://archiveofourown.org/works/835988) by [SugarFey](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SugarFey/pseuds/SugarFey). 



Carol had Jessica backed up against the front door to the apartment, and was starting to kiss her way down Jessica’s neck when the door swung inward. The two of them fell inside with an audible thump. Carol looked up to see Monica standing over them, mouth quirked in amusement. 

“Good evening, Carol.” 

“Shit,” Carol swore. 

She quickly glanced at Jessica out of the corner of her eye, remembering the ugly fallout last time Monica had caught them like this. But Jessica looked unconcerned, and Carol breathed a little easier.

“I thought you were supposed to be at your boyfriend’s place,” Carol said, sheepishly.

Monica shrugged, and Carol realized she was wearing a shimmering green dress and carefully applied makeup, which was unusually formal for Monica. 

“He’s picking me up at eight. Did your date end early?” Monica asked.

Carol blushed as she remembered the haste at which they’d left the restaurant. This wasn’t the first time that her impulsive decision-making had gotten her into trouble.

Jessica finished rebuttoning her blouse, and slung an easy arm around Carol. 

“You look nice,” Jessica said. “What’s the occasion?”

“I’m going to ask Jericho to marry me,” Monica announced. 

“Congratulations,” Jessica replied.

“Does this mean you’re moving out?” Carol asked. 

Jessica kicked Carol in the ankle.

“Actually, I wanted to ask you two about the bookstore. You had an art show there, right?” Monica asked.

***

“An engagement party? At the bookstore?” 

Maria had to stop herself from yelling. Just when everything was going well in her professional and personal life, something like this had to happen. 

“We don’t do events,” Maria stated, crossing her arms for emphasis.

“But we did the art show, and that worked great!” Carol argued. 

“The art show was different,” Maria said, voice crisp and confident, although she was aware that her excuse was flimsy at best.

“They have money,” Jess pointed out. “And we could even get Bobbi to do the catering.”

Maria sighed. She could already feel a headache developing. 

“I’ll think about it, after I have some coffee,” Maria told them, grabbing her coat.

She also had a lunch date with Steve, but Carol and Jessica didn’t need to know that. Every time she mentioned the man they would extol his virtues. She might as well rename Adjectives Assemble the Steve Rogers Fan Club at this point. 

“The store better be here when I come back,” she threw over her shoulder on the way out.

She was joking about the store. Mostly. Maria had given Natasha a well-deserved vacation, which left Carol and Jess as her fulltime employees. Unfortunately, they were not always the epitome of professionalism, especially around each other.

***

Steve walked over to their table with tray holding a disgustingly healthy-looking sandwich, a chocolate pecan cupcake, a glass of water and an espresso.

Steve set the espresso and the cupcake next to Maria, and sat down across from her, a smile on his face. Maria couldn’t help but smile back. She could see why her staff loved Steve so much. He carried around an aura of decency that was impossible to ignore, and it was unprecedented for her to have a boyfriend who brought her pastry and caffeine on a regular basis. 

He absently ran a thumb over her hand, a comfortable gesture that sent Maria’s heart racing, although that could have been the prospect of caffeine. 

“Where’s yours?” Maria nodded in the direction of her coffee.

“The last time I tried to keep up with you, I ended up doing pull-ups at two in the morning. I’ll stick with water,” Steve said.

Well, reasoned Maria, that just left more coffee for her.

They fell into talking about his students, always a popular topic of conversation with Steve. He talked about his students in such glowing terms that Maria was sure that such a group of teenagers couldn’t possibly exist. Which was probably why Steve was teaching, and Maria was running a bookstore.

“What about you? How are the kids you manage doing?”

Maria shrugged. “Doing their jobs, at the very least. Carol wants to host an engagement party for her roommate at the bookstore.”

“That’s a great idea,” Steve said enthusiastically.

“Do I look like a wedding planner?” she grumbled to Steve.

“It’s an engagement party, not a wedding,” Steve said, innocently.

She looked at him suspiciously. Steve could be stubborn when he wanted to argue for something.

“I probably should diversify,” Maria admitted, only because it was Steve. “My business plan relies on selling sub-standard erotica.”

“There will always be a market for substandard erotica,” Steve assured Maria, snark buried under his All-American grin.

“'Peddler of substandard erotica.' Something to put on my gravestone,” Maria growled, but without any real heat. She was just glad people were still buying paper books.

Steve got up from the table, touched her hand again; brief enough that it wouldn't be noticeable to the other cafe customers.

“See you tonight. Just think about the engagement party,” he said as he headed to teach his fifth period Visual Art class. 

She watched him go, a smug smile playing on her lips. Even his appropriate work attire couldn’t hide his physique. Dating him was probably one of the best decisions she’d ever made, right up there with hiring Natasha. 

Maria sat back in her chair and finished her coffee, thinking through the pros and cons of an engagement party at her bookstore. Eventually Steve’s logic and the lure of potential profit triumphed over Maria’s desire to keep Adjectives Assemble an engagement party free zone. She called Monica on the number Carol had scribbled down for her. 

Wrong number. Carol’s handwriting struck again.

She examined the numbers closely, and dialed a second time. Within minutes, she had agreed on a date and time with Monica.

***

_Three weeks later_

The first day Natasha arrived back from Prague, she stopped by the bookstore. Technically, she didn’t have to go into work until next week, but she knew there would be a stack of rare book requests waiting for her.

Natasha entered the store’s office, expecting to get a lecture from Maria about actually taking her vacation. Instead she found an office with three times its usual mess.

“Good. You’re here,” Maria said, from behind a stack of paperwork. 

Natasha raised an eyebrow at Maria’s muted response. Clearly she had been submerged in the mess of paperwork for some time. Natasha briefly considered dragging Maria out for a break, and demanding an explanation from her, but figured that could wait until close of day. She headed over to the Roost, hoping that Bobbi could provide some answers, and some tea.

Steve was sitting alone at what had become his and Maria’s table, staring at a half-eaten muffin morosely.  
“What’s going on?” Natasha sat down across from him.

“Hey Natasha, when did you get back?” Steve asked, obviously attempting to dodge the question.

“Nice try. What’s going on?”

Steve shrugged. “The engagement party is tomorrow.”

“Who's getting married?” 

“Carol’s roommate.” Steve explained, downcast.

Natasha put two and two together. Maria was focusing on work, which Steve was perceiving as her no longer being interested in him. It explained the moping. She rolled her eyes.

“Maria will be back down to her usual levels of workaholism after the party,” she informed Steve. “You look like an abandoned puppy. Stop it.”

Steve looked up at Natasha, eyes calculating. 

“Have you ever talked to her about marriage?” he asked, attempting to be casual and failing miserably.

Steve was planning to propose to Maria? She left for a few weeks and everything went to hell.

“Maria did mention," Natasha began.

Steve leaned forward, intent on her words.

"That if anyone ever attempted to publicly propose to her, she would shoot off their ring fingers," Natasha continued. "And that's the only part of that conversation I'm willing to share with you.” 

"Seems fair," responded Steve. "It was worth a shot."

***

Natasha returned to the bookstore for the engagement party, if only because she appreciated the way Carol’s roommate made a killer cocktail. 

The bookstore was crammed with people, music and laughter. The aisles of bookshelves had been shrunken to leave enough space for the guests, only a few of whom she recognized, on the main floor. There was still just enough room for teenagers and introverts to hide in the aisles, and she noticed the back of Clint’s head as he slipped into the Religion and Spirituality section, which didn’t seem his speed. She’d chase him down later.

Maria, with dark circles under her eyes, was holding her own among the guests. Carol and Jessica had their arms slung around each other, and Natasha stopped by to greet them.

“Welcome back! How was Prague?” Carol shouted, a bit too loudly for an enclosed space.

“Very relaxing,” Natasha responded, not entirely accurately. 

“We’re moving in together,” Jessica blurted, obviously unable to hold on to the news.

“Congratulations,” Natasha responded.

Jessica and Carol made loving eyes at each other, and Natasha excused herself. 

Clint was still lurking between the bookshelves, and Natasha realized there was no way he hadn't seen her at this point. He was attempting to avoid her. It was only fair that she sneak up on him. She took the long way round, creeping behind him, until she was only a few inches away.

“Boo,” Natasha whispered in his ear.

Clint jumped, then turned to look at her sheepishly, more awkward with her than he had been in several months. 

“Hey, Nat. Great party, huh?”

Natasha raised an eyebrow. “Why are you hiding in the bookshelves?” She took at look at the section they were in. “I didn’t realize you were so interested in Ancient History.”

He rubbed the back of his neck, a sure sign that he was embarrassed. 

“It’s just that everyone is being all coupley,” he said, by way of explanation.

“Are you afraid I’m going to ask you to move in with me?” she said, laughter in her tone.

“Maybe.” He looked at his hands, unwilling to look at her expression.

“Don’t worry. My apartment doesn’t have the space.” 

She knew that they would have to work through their commitment issues at some point, but not today. Today there was a party and a cash bar stocked by the bar-tending bride.

“Let’s go check out the bar,” Natasha said, linking her hand with Clint's.

"Okay, but you're buying."


End file.
